Megan Washington landed herself a sweet gig just over a year ago - she did a corporate to mark Qantas' 90th birthday, trilling I Still Call Australia Home.

Everyone's happy, right?

Not quite. Qantas have been using video of the song ever since, and Megan's angry about that. So angry, she's launching a lawsuit:

Ms Washington alleges the use was unauthorised, and claims by promoting the song as they did, Qantas misled the public into believing the airline had her approval and support.

You can see her point. There might be some people who are untouched by cynicism enough to think if someone gets up and sings a song for a corporation's birthday, that they might in some way like that corporation. Rather than just being paid to shill.

The whole thing is particularly complicated because, since her turn at Qantas' birthday, Washington has taken on a role promoting Virgin Australia. It's unclear if she approves and supports them any more than she did Qantas. Perhaps we'll all find out in court.

[A]s the band tore through some of its greatest hits during the second set, things got personal. Astbury went off on someone near the front of the stage who was texting one minute and, apparently, shouting at the singer the next. In between songs, Astbury took large swigs from his water bottle and spit it at the person in question. Not once, not twice, but three times.

“You’re ignorant—and you’re rude,” Astbury shouted into the mic. “I call it like I see it ... If you can’t handle it, go home. This is a Cult concert!”

Ironically, given that Astbury had also been moaning about people videoing the band on their phones, the moment where this screen-jabber was plucked from the crowd by security was, erm, filmed on a phone. It's probably the most entertaining thing that's happened at a Cult gig in recent years:

It is terribly rude to the people around you to hog the front row while not really being interested in what's going on upon the stage; equally, though, if you're an entertainer and your audience are choosing to play Candy Crush instead... it doesn't make it sound like you're very compelling.

Over in the private area behind the Sun's magnificent paywall, Gordon hears that Mick Jagger is planning his own festival.

Because nothing has a happier historical precedent than a festival that the Rolling Stones have been involved in the organisation of, right?

Gordon quotes a "source"; maybe someone who has been paid in vouchers to access the Sun website now it's not really on the internet any more:

"Mick has put out some feelers in Brazil to put on a big show. The plans are ambitious but if he pulls it off it will be huge. The whole vibe of the event is very much 'flower power' and the same hippy values that Glastonbury prides itself on. The publicity drive will begin in the next six months or so but there's no doubt there will be big names on the bill"

Yes, of course it's in Brazil, where the sun is warm on old bones and the tax arrangements agreeably outside HMRC's grasp.

I suppose it's not inconsistent that someone who thinks they spy "hippy values" in between the phone-charging points and ATMs of Worthy Farm could believe that a Rock Business Festival which flies people halfway round the world to have a party against a backdrop of protests against grand entertainments taking precedence over local problems is in someway a "flower power" event.

That vague "six months" to the publicity drive feels like the sort of time period which is just long enough to let most people forget it was ever mentioned, should it not happen. We shall see.

Friday, August 16, 2013

To save time with their new single, One Direction simply got some grown-ups to take an old Who song and pretended it was theirs.

When the world pointed out that Best Song Ever is pretty much just Baba O'Riley, One Direction fans reacted with the usual misplaced groupthink, and decided to launch a pre-emptive attack on The Who.

After every blue police phone box had been reduced to a smouldering wreckage, they suddenly realised The Who was a band, and so off they danced to Twitter to circle their wagons and wave their tiny little fists:

Not entirely clear how being able to "crash twitcam" is going to change the basics of copyright law but good luck with that. I'd love to see it in court:
"So, we have heard from the lawyers for The Who publishers, and their musical experts and precedent. What argument do you have for One Direction?"
"Well, your honour, I have only one very weak argument, but I shall call upon a couple of thousand teenagers to make the same weak argument over and over again in case that changes the facts."

Heartwarmingly, it even turned into a crossover between two sets of fandamentalists:

"No! I like the single. I like One Direction. The chords I used and the chords they used are the same three chords we've all been using in basic pop music since Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry made it clear that fancy chords don't mean great music – not always. I'm still writing songs that sound like Baba O'Riley – or I'm trying to!. It's a part of my life and a part of pop's lineage. One Direction are in my business, with a million fans, and I'm happy to think they may have been influenced a little bit by The Who. I'm just relieved they're all not wearing boiler suits and Doc Martens, or Union Jack jackets. The funniest thing is that in Canada this year I met with Randy Bachman once the leader of GUESS WHO who told me that he not only copied Baba O Riley for their hit You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, but he even called his band after us. Why would I not be happy about this kind of tribute?"

Of course, bringing the Guess Who into the story will mean One Direction fans will be attacking Toys R Us to destroy that face guessing game, but there's always collateral damage.

You'll note that not only does Pete calm the fears that The Who are calling for the song to be banned, but he also does nothing that would prevent his publishers suing One Direction's publishers for a lovely large payday.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

The headline? Average sales are down now to 20,011 - and around a quarter (5,002) of those are at below full cover price.

That's 13% down compared with the six months to the end of 2012; 16% down on the sale compared with the same period last year.

Is there much comfort for the title in the stats for its digital edition?

Not really, not yet: in the UK, they sold just 356 copies onto people's tablets. The much wider potential market of the rest of the world? 465 copies. Although there's potential there, the NME isn't making any digital headway yet.

There was, however, one glimmer of hope, as one issue managed to out-perform the sluggish sales of the title - the David Bowie cover story. It suggests that when the magazine is able to bring its a-game, it can still create a buzz. Perhaps - given that Liam Gallagher frontpages offer no sales advantage over, say, Haim or Karen O - its time for the magazine to stop clinging to the Gallaghers and start reporting the news?

Glaser was joint-owner of the Nashville studios which came to be known as Hillbilly Central - Glaser Brothers Sound Studios. It was here that the first million-selling country album, Wanted! The Outlaws was recorded. This brought Tompall together with Waylon Jennings and others to create a hotchpotch mix of tracks that hadn't found homes elsewhere; on paper it sounds unappealing but it found an enthusiastic audience.

Glaser's back-up vocals can be heard on Johnny Cash's Ring Of Fire; and he and his brothers had numerous country hits in their own right. But it was as businesspeople that the brothers really shone - quickly establishing a publishing company and those studios; racking up production credits.

Tompall went solo in 1973, but after falling out with Waylon Jennings over money the Glaser Brothers reunited towards the end of the decade. It was a short-lived comeback, though; by 1982 Glaser was solo again. He released a final album in 1986, and shortly afterwards Hillbilly Central was sold off, closing the chapter on the outlaw movement.

Tompall Glaser died Tuesday 13th August 2013; he was 79 and had been ill for some time.

The best running sketch on the last radio series of Mitchell and Webb was the one where old ladies questioned people about their jobs, usually suggesting they'd be better off opening a little shop instead.

"Just heard (The Greatest Thing)! F**k ! It's not even the right f**king version!!! Why do ppl (people) think this kinda leaking s**t is ok ! I'm so f**king disappointed... I've sat on (that) song 4 (for) over a yr (year). Now some a**hole leaks (the) wrong version! Gaga's single is great, & that's all that matters."

It's unclear why, if all that matters is that GaGa's single is great, what Cher is all up in a lather about.

Horrible news yesterday, with the death of Charlatans drummer Jon Brookes.

As a key member of a major Madchester band and a West Brom fan, Brookes was Baggie twice over.

There's a lovely 1999 interview with Brookes and James Hannah, in which Jon looks back over the Charlatan's career up until Us & Us Only. There's some consideration of the previous tragedy that hit the band - the death of Rob Collins during the making of Tellin' Stories ("I can hear cer­tain con­flicts on there between us all. I think the ascent made us dizzy again. I still haven’t quite digested the songs."), but mostly it tracks a band who rose, fell and rose again, making it up as they went along and doing a pretty good job of it.

Beyond being a musician, Jon was a father and a husband. He was only 44.

You know those pub quizzes where they give you an unusual photo of a famous person to see if you can identify them? Failing at that doesn't just mean you don't get to win the bottle of wine, but it could be an early sign that you've got dementia.

Yes, according to the Daily Express (and therefore, probably not according to actual doctors) not being able to spot Elvis could be a symptom:

Dr Doug Brown, of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We all forget a face. But when ability to recognise someone as famous as Elvis or Diana becomes an issue it may be there is a deeper-rooted cause.”

Possibly, although Elvis died 36 years ago, and is it fair to assume that he's still such a cultural norm that his face is useful in this way.

It's unclear if you should or shouldn't be able to recognise all the Kardashians as part of good mental health.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Dont focus on ANY blogger criticism. I have been a producer/songwriter/musician for over 10 years. Trust the artist, bloggers are not critics. The fans + music scholars are the best critics because they know the artist intimately. ‪#‎STOPHarassingTheArtist‬ we are here to entertain you. ‪#‎FreeTheArtist‬ ‪#‎StopTheDramaStartTheMusic‬

Let's make 2013 a year where music/talent/artistry is more important than gossip/fanwars. I respect all fanbases for their passion ‪#‎BeTheChange‬

For a woman who has spent most of today running round yelling about pop emergencies, calling for a stop to the drama seems a teensy bit rich, but then, what would I know?

If we're to make any sense of GaGa's intervention, we should ignore people who write blogs - sorry, Tom Ewing; sorry, Pop Justice - and listen instead to Music Scholars. Frankly, I am going to adjust my thinking and in future, unless a person can prove they've got at least an upper second from a serious pop university, I shall scoff at their opinions.

It's not entirely clear what happens if a fan writes a blog, or a music scholar also runs a blog. After all, GaGa Daily is a blog run by fans, so when they suggest we ring our local radio stations and demand they play Applause, are they right - because they're fans - or wrong - because they're bloggers?

Of course, it could just be that GaGa has got hung up on a publishing platform and confused 'people who think she's kind of reached the sort of mined-out husk that it took Madonna about five albums to get to' with 'people who use an easy web publishing system' and decided the two groups are interchangeable.

“I always said that if I could live anywhere it would be in the middle of Baldwin County, and that’s just about where I am,” the easygoing Payne said with a chuckle. “I really like it here. It’s a small town with friendly people.”

Jody Payne was 77; he died of cardiac problems on Saturday, 10th August.

Oh. Apparently it's to protect the people in the cars. Surely the knowledge that if they kidnapped Kanye or Kim Kardashian, they'd have to spend time with them, is a better defence that any armoured car?